Jack awoke to find himself lying with his head propped up against a tree root. He instantly tried to sit up and felt the pain from his wound shoot down his back. He groaned and laid back against the tree. Looking down, he noticed that his shirt was missing, and he had what looked like bandages covering part of his chest. Looking further he saw Rosaline, who was fading in and out of his focus.
"Couldn't wait to get my shirt off, right?" He joked, but his heart wasn't in it.
"I'm willing to ignore that comment, given the circumstances." Rosaline said, "Can you move?" Jack winced,
"Wish I could say me back was numb, but it ain't." He groaned and managed to pull himself up. "Where did you get bandages from?"
"My dress." Rosaline said, and Jack noticed there were strips of fabric missing from the skirt.
"You don't have any rum hidden in that dress by any chance do ye?" Jack asked her, "Pain killer of course," He added. Rosaline knelt down behind him and unwound the bandages to check his wound.
"This looks bad," She said, "It's ever so deep."
"We 'av t' get back t' the Pearl," Jack said, "Savannah'll fix me up,"
"That might not be possible," Rosaline said, "I saw the other crew take yours aboard their ship, and…"
"And what?"
"And I can't see either ship anymore."
"What? The bloody bastard's stole me ship?" Jack's worst fears had come true, again.
"So it would seem. But I think the bigger problem is the fact that we are stranded on this island, with no way off, and you are injured." As she finished her sentence, she heard Jack hiss in pain, and noticed his wound start to bleed again. Instantly she panicked, but managed to mask the feeling. She was thankful that Jack was not facing her. It wouldn't do at all for a pirate to see her loose her cool, and the thought that she was concerned for one was unimaginable. She didn't know what to do,
"What is it?" She asked him urgently,
"It's the bloody bullet," Jack said through clenched teeth, "It's still in there,"
"What do I do?"
"Get the bloody thing out!" Rosaline recoiled. She couldn't… the thought repulsed her,
"What happens if I can't get it out?"
"You'll be stranded on yer own." Jack said, "I know it might sound favourable to you, but I don't fancy my share in it very much." Rosaline knew she had to try. Jack had saved her life. He could have just left her below deck, and if he had, he might still have his ship, and be rid of her. It was her fault. He had been trying to get her to safety when he had gotten shot.
She pulled the bandage off completely so she could see the bullet hole clearly. "I haven't got a clue what I'm doing!" She told him, helplessly,
"Lass, you managed to drag me to shore without getting the pair of us blown up. I'll place a bet that you didn' know how t' do that till today either." Rosaline nodded and swallowed her fear. She moved her hand over to the wound,
"Just… just try and pull it out?" She asked, "Won't it hurt?"
"It'll bloody hurt luv," he said, "But it's better than being dead." Rosaline mentally urged her hand to move.
"Alright," She said, "I'm going to do it. Get-"
"Just bloody do it!" Jack yelled, and as she did so his last word didn't end, but instead turned into an extremely loud yell. Rosaline winced as she felt the metal with the tip of her finger.
"It's too far in," She said, with tears in her eyes knowing she was causing him so much pain,
"I really don' care if you have t' rip it out luv, just get it out!" Rosaline grabbed Jack's hand with her spare one and felt him squeeze it so hard she thought he might break it. She was fumbling with the bullet, and knew that she wasn't going to get anywhere being timid. Eventually she plucked up the courage and reached further down so she could get her finger underneath it to pull it out. She felt the flesh tear and more and more blood flowed out. With one last pull her hand, and the bullet came out. She grabbed the makeshift bandage and covered the bullet hole, pressing it down to stop the bleeding. Jack didn't let go of her hand and she held on to him tightly, trying to assure herself that the amount of pain she had just caused had saved the mans life.
"I'm sorry," She said, "I'm so sorry," Jack felt paralysed. He felt like he couldn't let go of her even if he wanted to. His back felt as if it was on fire. He could hear her speaking but couldn't find his own voice for a while.
"Bloody hell," He said finally. Rosaline smiled, hearing in his voice that the pain had stopped. It might have been replaced by more, but it wasn't as bad. "Thanks luv," He said, releasing her hand from his and straightening slightly.
"You're welcome." She said, "You saved my life, I saved yours. At least now we're even." Jack frowned,
"I hope that doesn't mean that you're goin' t' go back t' hatin' me now," He said, "Because it looks like we'll be stuck together for a while. Until Savannah breaks out and wipes the floor with the thieves who stole my ship." Rosaline shook her head.
"I don't hate you, Jack." She said, "It's just," She paused, "You're a pirate. Your whole crew are pirates, and I… well… no one has ever given me a reason not to hate pirates."
"It seemed a bit more than that to me luv," Jack said, "That excuse don't explain why you would 'av rather died than be rescued by me."
"I just didn't want to be on board a pirate ship." Rosaline said, "It's as simple as that." Jack regarded her closely.
"Not it's not." He said slowly, "But you aren't goin' t' tell me the rest." Rosaline smiled. He was right. She wasn't going to tell him. He might have saved her, and she might have saved him. She might not hate him, but she wasn't going to pour out her entire life story to him.
"Twenty one." She said, not looking at him.
"What?"
"I'm twenty one." She said again. "That's what you wanted to know before isn't it? How old I was?" Jack grinned,
"I knew you'd warm up t' me, luv."